


not so bad

by softmullen



Category: Andi Mack (TV)
Genre: Angst, Fake Dating, Fluff, Multi, amber and jonah are also in the band, andi's a youtuber, but there is some fluff, cyrus is an actor, publicity stunt, there’s sort of a lot of angst in this, tj is in a band
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-08-01
Updated: 2019-08-10
Packaged: 2020-07-28 20:33:34
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 4,905
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20070157
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/softmullen/pseuds/softmullen
Summary: publicity stunts might not be so bad after all





	1. a deal

**Author's Note:**

> let’s just hope this isn’t terrible

tj got the call about an hour ago for him to meet his manager, amber had just dropped him off and now he was walking into the building that he's been in all too many times. bex and bowie were seated around the small white table, talking quietly until they seen him walking over. "hey kid-"

"-i'm not a kid anymore, you can call me tj." he laughed, cutting bowie off. he'd known the two for about four years, since he was around fourteen and just starting out. now he's turning eighteen soon and they still look at him like he's the same fourteen year old who could barely come up with a name for his band. 

"anyways, why did you guys wanna talk about? i'm supposed to be meeting the band this morning." bex sighed, opened the folder sitting in front of her, and looked at bowie. usually meetings between them were planned ahead of time, but this time, he had woken up to a missed phone call and when he called it back they asked to meet up.

"you know how simplicité is releasing an album soon?" bex asked, as if he wasn't in the band. tj nodded, "well we want this one to be big, get you guys out there."

"yeah, i mean we all do." 

"so here's the thing. . . about a week ago we were offered a deal." bowie replied, tj looked between the two, not having a clue what was going on. "a deal?"

"you remember andi, right? our daughter?" back to that four years of knowing each other thing, they'd gotten a lot closer than they probably should have. like the fact that he knows their daughter now, he doesn't really see her often because she's always in california, whereas tj prefers new york. "yeah, of course i do, why?"

"well, her friend cyrus goodman is an actor. he started off really small, in low budget stuff and worked his way up the past few years. and in the last year he was featured in 3 movies that blew up, and in a few months, around the same time as your album, another movie of his is coming out." he heard about cyrus, only briefly though since he doesn't really get on social media. 

"if his movies have been doing good then what does this have to do with me?" bex slid the folder over to him, "his agents contacted us, and they want the same thing as us. for his movie to do better, to be bigger."

"yeah.." bowie seen that he clearly didn't understand what was happening yet, so he lifted the folder from the table and pointed it at him. "we had the choice to sign this contract and make the decision for you, but we wanted you to make it."

"make what?" tj grabbed the folder and started to read, he quickly scanned over the print and down at the bottom he stared at the line with the word signature next to it. after a few seconds of silence he looked up at the two. 

"you want me to fake date cyrus goodman as a publicity stunt?" he furrowed his eyebrows, "is he even gay?"

bex answered quickly, "yes. he came out publicly a few months ago."

tj leaned back in his chair, "and he already agreed to this?" to be honest, tj didn't know if he would agree to it, not because he wouldn't love to have a boyfriend, even if it was fake, but because it would be lying. yeah, of course he lied sometimes, but that was only to people he knew. lying to the world though, to his supporters? the people who've been there since the beginning? he didn't know if he felt comfortable with that.

"yea." 

"why a relationship? why can't we just promote each other's stuff, like i'll go to the premiere and tell everyone how good it was. and then he can come to a few of my shows, and he can post videos from it or something." bowie sighed, "the media eats up relationships, they love asking questions and assuming stuff. then we can make the breakup huge, it'll be every where."

the band was never something tj expected to get big, when him, amber and jonah started it, it was just something fun. they would fool around in the basement or out in the garage with his parents old stuff, but never did he think that they would be selling out venues. yeah obviously they aren't as big as they could be, since they're sort of indie. if that's what you wanna call it. but now that they're where they are now, he doesn't want anything more than to continue to grow. 

"and you say it'll help?" would it really? would their breakup get people to go listen to his music, would it actually work?

"by the time this is over, you'll be selling out within minutes." bowie said dramatically, bex nodded. "so what do you say?"

tj sat there for a minute, thinking about it. how hard could it be? holding hands in public? a kiss here and there? posting a few pictures once in awhile? if cyrus was willing to do it, shouldn't he be just as willing?

"yeah, sure. i'll do it."


	2. it’s been forever

tj looked in the mirror one last time, he ran his hair through his sloppily done hair which he wanted to do this morning but he woke up with a text from bex telling him to leave it. she's been telling him for years to start wearing his hair differently but he's been opposed, until today. he's was going to be out in public, he needed to have a different approach. 

during concerts it was different, it was dark in the room, no one really paid attention to his hair. 

his phone rang, making him jump. being in an apartment by yourself made everything quiet, so the smallest noises always made him jump. across the screen read 'rebecca.' she hated when he called her that, and that's exactly why he put it in his phone as that.

he quickly answered it, putting the phone up to his ear. "hello?"

"we're outside." he usually got a ride from amber everywhere, but today her and jonah were at the studio, where he should've been but instead he was going on a fake date with a guy he didn't even know. he would drive himself if he ever had time to take a driving test, the past few years he's been the busiest he's ever been. luckily for amber, she got a car before they decided to move to new york permanently. 

amber and jonah both lived with him, but of course they were barely ever there all at the same time, except when they're sleeping. sometimes not even then. 

"you couldn't have texted me that?" he said, grabbing sunglasses and walking out the door. "just hurry up." the phone hung up before he could say anything else.

in front of his building, bowie's car was sitting there. he climbed in quickly and shoved his into his back pocket. as bowie started the drive towards the location, bex turned around in her seat to face him. "so this is going to be the first public outing for you two, you have to make it seem believable. don't start anything yet, just act like you're having a good time. talk a lot, maybe take a walk or something."

tj nodded, "is that it?"

"stay where paparazzi can see you, don't make it obvious that you know they're watching though." he nodded again, "okay."

bex turned back in her seat and reached for bowie's hand, tj couldn't help but smile. when he first met them, they weren't together. yeah they had a kid, but according to them, they were just friends. over the four years he could easily tell that there were still feelings there, so of course, him and amber meddled in the relationship. jonah didn't really care to much about them, he didn't really come to the meetings or anything, he just wanted to work on the music and perform, tj didn't blame him though. the industry wasn't for everyone.

once they pulled up, tj immediately spotted cyrus, who he did some research on the night before. he was sitting at a table, looking down at his phone. 

before tj opened the door bex stopped him, "the paparazzi is right around the corner, don't let them lose you."

"i won't." he said before getting out. when the door shut behind him, cyrus' head snapped in his direction. a smile appeared on his face, and he waved him over. tj tried his hardest not to look over in the direction bex had said the cameras were, so he forced himself to walk forward.

"tj! it's so good to see you." cyrus said, as if they knew each other already. but he knew that this was acting, so he replied, "yeah, feels like forever, huh?" cyrus smiled, gesturing his hand down to the chair across from him. tj pulled the chair out and sat down, taking off his glasses.

"how are you?"

"i'm good, been traveling a lot, it's good to be home." he said truthfully, he and the band had just gotten off tour and he couldn't wait to be back in new york. "how about you?"

"good actually, just got done filming down in georgia. here for the weekend, and then flying back to california on monday." it seemed like cyrus felt comfortable, like it was natural. maybe for him this was normal, he was an actor after all. but tj didn't know what to say, how do you even continue a conversation about your life with a person you don't know?

"so how's andi?" he asked, knowing that's probably not where this conversation should've gone. "she's good actually, she was just talking about you the other day actually. about how she's mad didn't make it to one of your concerts." tj couldn't tell if he was telling the truth or not, so he just smiled and said, "well there's always next time, right?"

"want to walk? we can catch up a bit more." tj nodded, completely forgetting that bex had told him to do that. he stood up and pushed the chair back in, walking next to cyrus. he had been a few inches apart from him, but cyrus had walked closer, to the point where they were almost brushing shoulders. 

not once did he look at or for the cameras, he just walked straight and occasionally looked over at tj. for a few minutes they walked in silence before cyrus held out his hand, "can i put my number in you phone?" the two stopped, now facing each other. tj pulled his phone out of his back pocket, "yeah, sure." 

when he handed the phone back, tj looked at the screen. and cyrus has sent a message to himself, but obviously it was for tj to read. "we can talk about it later, just text me."

tj looked up at him and nodded. then they continued to walk. it was early in the morning still so new york was bright and filled with people, so they couldn't go too far. suddenly cyrus stopped walking again, "i totally forgot, i was supposed to post a picture to let people know we were together today."

"okay, well we can do it now then."

cyrus looked like he went into deep thought for a few few seconds for pulling out his phone. then saying in a hushed tone, "we don't want to make it too obvious," then raised his voice again, "walk ahead of me a little so i can get a blurry picture from the back." and he posted it to his instagram story with the caption "hanging with old friends :)" he made sure not to tag tj, but that is was easy to tell it was him. 

cyrus seemed to be pretty good at this, so maybe it wouldn't be so hard. maybe they'd get through these next few months really easily and then go on with their normal lives.


	3. nothing to tell

things were everywhere already, tj's phone was blowing up. especially from amber and jonah, who had no idea about the whole. he hates that he can't tell them, but bowie said it's better this way. he's was getting calls from people he's barely known, tagged in pictures of them walking, it was so much already.

"i cant believe you didn't tell me you knew him." amber said, setting her cup of coffee down on the table. right now they were at the studio, and jonah ran to go get lunch for them. amber had been bugging him about this all morning, and he hasn't really said too much because he doesn't want to lie to her, but he can't tell her the truth. 

"i guess it just never really came up, he knows bex and bowie, so that's how we met." tj tried to keep it as minimal as possible, keeping his eyes down on his paper. "never really came up? you guys went on a date yesterday!"

"it was not a date!" he looked up and seen amber raise her eyebrow, "whatever it was, you should've told me. i found out through instagram."

jonah walked through the door with two bags in his hands, "you're so lucky i love you guys, the wait was forever." he complained, sitting the bags of food on the table.

"you were gone for like 20 minutes."

"15 minutes too long." tj rolled his eyes and stood up, searching for what he wanted in the bags.

his phone buzzed, signaling he got a text message. but he ignored it until he got his food and sat back down. 

cyrus  
are you busy right now?

tj  
just at the studio

cyrus  
can you text?

tj  
yeah 

cyrus  
okay, well i think we should talk about it. just so we're on the same page with everything 

tj  
yeah, sure

cyrus  
okay well since i'm leaving monday, we should hang out again tomorrow so it's like i'm coming to see you before i leave

tj   
yea i'm free tomorrow 

cyrus   
and about the actual 'dating' part are there certain things your uncomfortable with? like i can hold your hand and stuff right?

tj  
yea, i think i'm pretty good with everything

cyrus  
ride with me to the airport?

tj   
if it'll stir up some stuff sure

cyrus  
see you tomorrow 

tj   
see you :)

tj sighed and put his phone down, "who're you talking to? cyrus?" amber teased, "oh yeah, about that. you still haven't told me anything." jonah cut in.

"cause there's nothing to tell."

"yet." tj rolled his eyes.

tomorrow would be the day where things actually started, where things started to change. and it kinda made him feel nervous, what if he messed up? cyrus was so good at this, and tj knew how to play a few instruments, but he was no actor.

as him, amber, and jonah sat around the studio eating, jonah spoke up about the song amber was currently working on. "have you picked out a name yet?"

she smiled, "actually i have, and it has something to do with what's happening tonight." tj looked up at her and titled his head a little. "what's happening tonight."

"pretty pink hair." she said, continuing to eat her food. jonah and tj looked over at each other then back at amber, waiting for her to explain. it took a minute but she finally looked back up at them, "what?"

"that's the name of the song? what does that have to do with what's happening tonight?" he asked, "what is happening tonight?" jonah added.

amber rolled her eyes, "yes it's name of the song, and i'm dying my hair pink tonight."

they just stared at her, neither knowing what to say. 

a few minutes passed before tj finally said, "you're dying your hair pink? what's the song even about?"

"i'll tell you when i finish it, and yea." they had all written a song for the album, plus the songs they've written together, there's going to be 8. jonah wrote 'the art of breathing' which is about anxiety, it's about 4 minutes long and is probably the slowest, calmest song on the album. tj wrote 'washed up diamonds' which is about being in the industry and being terrified of where you're going to end up. scared of being forgotten. kind of like failure in a way.

a song they wrote together is called 'tinted walls' which is about feeling like your closed in, and is also what they're naming the whole album. that song probably took the longest because it was personal to them, about their hometown in utah. 'out of touch' is obviously about being out of touch with reality, they wrote that after spending so much time in the studio writing 'words that burn' which is about fighting with people that you love. 

the three of them had gotten into a really bad argument that almost split up the band, and when they finally made up, they spent like four days straight in the studio due to lost time. and the last one they have done is 'the center of the universe' which is about new york, they wrote it after they decided to move there. 

now all they needed was to write one more song, which they'll finish when amber finishes hers. tj and jonah have been working on lyrics, they don't even know what they want the song to be about yet.

"when do you think you'll finish?" jonah asked, "probably by the end of the week, i've been writing like crazy recently."

"oh yeah, i have plans tomorrow and sunday morning, but i’m free in the afternoon." 

"plans with cyrus?" 

tj ignored her, "we can meet here around noon, yeah? i’ll pick up lunch."

tj's phone buzzed again, picking it up, he seen he had a text from bex. 

rebecca  
go follow cyrus on instagram

he didn’t reply, only opened up the app and searched up his name, quickly tapping the follow button. but before clicking off, he seen that cyrus had something on his story. out of curiosity, he started to watch it.

the first thing on it was a picture of a cyrus with a question box under his face. 'ask away!' it said. suddenly tj was even more curious, and as he read through the few responses, he seen his name in one of the questions. 

'so what’s going on with you tj kippen?' 

cyrus replied with, 'nothing to tell... yet.' with a winky face. then the next one has something about him again.

'tj doesn’t really seem like your type'

and cyrus replied with, 'how do you know my type?'

and then, 'you’re dating tj kippen? like the one in the band?'

'which band?'

and again, 'i ship you two already!'

'...thanks?'

and again, 'i would’ve never expected you to date tj kippen'

'who said i was?'

and the questions went on, not all being about him, but a lot of them. he found himself looking through his tagged photos, 90% of them were him with cyrus. he didn’t believe bex when she said the media eats up relationships until right now. yes, he knew it was getting somewhere, but this was so much. it felt like everyone was talking about it, everyone was watching them. and he couldn’t help but think he was going to be the one to screw this up.


	4. rainy day

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i rushed this chapter so it’s not that good but here

it was almost noon when the rain started to come down lightly, tj just walked out of his apartment building with his hood up. he was going to meet cyrus, he would've gotten a ride but they were meeting pretty close to where he already was. 

cyrus saw him first, from inside the coffee shop. he came out quickly and called his name, practically running up to him. tj had noticed the paparazzi cars from around the corner and knew that they had followed cyrus here. 

he was thrown off guard when cyrus threw his arms around him, pulling him into a tight hug. "woah." and then wrapped his arms around his waist and pulled him in closer, and for a minute, it felt normal. then they pulled away and the rain started to come down harder, cyrus looked up and started to laugh, grabbing tj's hand and pulling him in the direction of the door.

inside tj finally pulled down his hood, and his big smile was no longer hidden. "it's really coming down out there." cyrus said, leading tj over to the table he was sitting at. 

"guess i won't be sleeping tonight." tj laughed, sitting down across from him. "why not?"

"usually when it rains i like to stay awake and sit out on my balcony, it's when i write most of my songs." cyrus rested his chin on the palm of his hands, before replying, "you actually write your own songs? respect."

"yeah, usually with amber and jonah, but sometimes i just . . . get a burst inspiration and then the words just flow." he looked out the window at the rain falling, then back at cyrus who's eyes never left him. "but i don't think i could sing someone else's song, nothing against singers who do, but i can barely sing my own songs-"

"-what'd you mean? you're a great singer!"

"you've heard me sing?" tj obviously knew cyrus knew who he was, but he didn't know that he's ever heard any of his music. "yeah, you guys are really good. and you guys writing your own songs just makes it even better."

people compliment their music all the time, but no one ever compliments the writing. they say it's a good song, yeah, but they never explicitly say that song writing itself is good. so hearing it, brought this warm feeling to his chest. before he could say anything cyrus continued, "i think my favorite is stoned, the way you guys convert the feeling into music . . . i don't know, i could listen to it forever."

stoned was one of the first songs they ever put out, it was the the first song that he ever really put emotion into. it was about a dazed feeling, and how you can feel stoned without actually being stoned. he doesn't get the feeling as often but it'll always be something he can easily recognize. the first time he ever felt it was one of the first times he came to new york. 

everything was so overwhelming but beautiful and it just felt as if he wasn't really there, like he was just imagining it all. and he has it a lot during concerts or in interviews, that song always meant the most to him. "that's really your favorite?"

"yeah, but i haven't heard any of the new ones yet so that could easily change." tj glances back out at the rain that was still coming down hard, "come on." cyrus said, standing back up. "what?"

cyrus hadn't answered him, only grabbing his arm and pulling him right back through the door that they came through. immediately the two were underneath water coming down on them, "what're we doing out here?" he said loudly, so that he could hear him over the rain and the traffic.

"you wanted to come out here, so we're out here." and before tj could respond, cyrus ran and jumped into a puddle, splashing it up all over himself before almost falling over from laughing so much. tj could help but join him, letting the water run down over his face. he took a minute and just looked up, and even though the water was getting in his eyes, he couldn't look away. the rain felt so nice, he never wanted it to end.

"hold my hand?" cyrus asked softly, and quietly. tj looked over at him and slowly took his hand, pulling him close to him, "you're gonna get sick." cyrus looked down, trying to hide the small smile on his face. it made tj laugh, which caused him to lean forward, and before he knew it, cyrus' head was snuggled into his chest and from where the paparazzi was standing, it probably looked like they were hugging.

cyrus slowly looked up at him, continuously blinking from the rain getting in his eyes, "you're really good at this." he whispered, "you're not to bad yourself." 

cyrus smacked his chest, "i'm supposed to be the good actor here."

"you're doing amazing, cy."

"cy?" tj only shrugged it off, wrapping his arm around him and starting the walk down the street. "where do you wanna go now?"

before cyrus could answer, his phone started to ring. he quickly answered it upon seeing bex's name. "hello?"

"playing out in the rain, really? the pictures are already everywhere, people think it's a date." him and cyrus continued to walk as him and bex talked, "yea, isn't that the goal?"

"yes, exactly. andi called earlier and asked why we didn't tell her, cause i guess cyrus hasn't said anything to any of them yet, either." a roar of thunder rolled over the sky, the rain coming down even harder. cyrus yelped, causing both of them to start laughing. "sorry bex, i have to go." and before she could reply he hung up the phone.

cyrus grabbed his hand and started to run, pushing through the crowded streets, probably losing the paparazzi. but neither of them thought of it, "my apartment is right around the corner." tj screamed, now pulling cyrus in that direction. 

the two didn't stop laughing until they were inside, dripping all over the lobby's carpet. cyrus pulled his hand away and ran it through his messy wet hair, sighing. "i'm soaked."

"i can give you some dry clothes to put on, i don't think my roommates are home." he nodded and followed tj up to his door. the apartment was freezing with the air conditioner on, so tj acted quickly. he grabbed cyrus a pair of sweatpants and a hoodie, before grabbing himself something of that sort as well.

"it's dry and warm." he said, handing it over. cy smiled and thanked him as tj showed him to the bathroom. 

he quickly changed in his own room and was back lit in the living room before cyrus was done. he flopped down onto the couch and thought about today, they weren't out long at all, but it felt like hours. and surely this would have people freaking out, bex had to actually call him. speaking of bex, he should probably call he back.

when he pulled out his phone, he seen that he had 4 missed called from her. 

"thelonious jagger-"

"-i told you, you couldn't call me that." 

"i cant believe you hung up on me, anyways... why did you and cyrus go to your apartment? the paparazzi can't see you if you're in there?" tj sat up quickly, his jaw practically on the ground. "how do you even know that? we just got here?"

cyrus walked out with his wet clothes in hand, tj pointed to plastic bag sitting on the counter he had gotten out for him. "i told you, the media eats up relationships. they love you guys already."

"well that's good to know, we must be doing something right." cyrus came and sat next to him on the couch, typing away on his phone.

"you're doing everything right, i'm glad you guys haven't made anything to obvious that the two of you are dating-"

"-fake dating-"

"-yes tj, i know. but i was trying to compliment you, but never mind." cyrus put his hand on his thigh, making his eyes shoot up in his direction. turns out he was just taking a picture.

"okay i'm sorry, continue."

"i just like how you guys are taking it slow, like just hanging out but also kind of flirty? you know what i mean, right?" he didn't. but instead of saying that, he said, "yeah, but hey i have to go, talk later?"

"yea for sure, keep me posted."

then he hung up. 

"so apparently, they already know you're here?" cyrus looked up from his phone, "yea, i see that. i'm being tagged in pictures already. the paparazzi is insane."

"my roommates are going to have so many questions that i'm not gonna be in the mood to answer." he sighed, leaning back on the couch. cyrus laughed, "yea, i get that. i hate lying to them, but i cant risk it, you know?" he knew exactly what he was talking about.

"i do, especially my sister. i feel like she can see right through me sometimes, and this is one thing that i cant let her see through. and quite frankly, i don't know how to do that. she keeps asking about you." 

"that's me with andi and buffy, they've been my bestfriends since before any of us were even in the industry. and i just don't know how to keep it from them." the sound of the rain got quieter, and the sound of the two talking echoed through the apartment.

"yea. but it's not for that long, right? a few months, that's pretty much the time length for filming, right?"

"yea, it should be a breeze."


End file.
